A state-based criminal background check browses criminal history databases or repositories maintained at the state level. Individual county courts throughout the state report into these repositories on a regular basis to create a broader and more extensive database of criminal history information than any county court can maintain on its own.

Employers often use state criminal history checks to expand the reach of their pre-employment screening processes, often after conducting county-based searches. This Oklahoma background check will search the state criminal history database maintained by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Conducting this search could yield criminal records from any county that reports into the Bureau of Investigation repository. Such counties may include Oklahoma County, Tulsa County, and Cleveland County. At backgroundchecks.com, we are proud to process state criminal history searches in 45 states, Oklahoma among them.

What may be reported on an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Background Check?

Jurisdiction where record is recorded

Case number

Defendant

Charge

Filing date

Degree of offense, e.g. misdemeanor

Disposition

Disposition date

Sentence

Restrictions and Limitations

Each state has laws that restrict or limit how employers can use criminal history details for hiring purposes. Employers should be aware of these restrictions before conducting an Oklahoma state background check. Below, we have compiled details on the most relevant rules on the books in Oklahoma.

Ban the Box

Oklahoma is one of the country’s sparser adopters of fair chance hiring legislation. At this point, there is only one ban the box law on the books in the state. The law bans the box for public employers at the state level, which means all state agencies in Oklahoma are legally barred from asking questions about criminal history on their job applications.

The policy, signed into law as an executive order in 2016, does not apply to all jobs. “Sensitive government positions” are exempted, as are jobs where certain felony convictions would legally disqualify a candidate from the position.

While there is currently only one active ban the box law in Oklahoma, both private and public employers should watch for changes to legislation: it is possible ban the box legislation could soon come to one of Oklahoma’s cities or counties.

Arrest and Conviction Records

While some states have laws that prohibit employers from accessing, asking about, or considering arrest history information, Oklahoma is not one of them. Employers in the state are at liberty to inquire into and use both arrest records and conviction records. So long as the arrests or convictions have not been expunged or sealed, they are considered fair game for employment purposes.

Candidates with expunged records can act as if those records have never existed, and employers are not legally permitted to bar candidates who refuse to disclose or discuss sealed or expunged records.

Despite the laws in Oklahoma, most human rights organizations urge employers to ignore arrest records that did not lead to a conviction. Arrests by themselves only show suspicion that a crime was committed; they do not prove guilt. As such, employers wishing to consider arrest records are usually encouraged to investigate those records further to determine what transpired in the courts concerning those arrests.

Most businesses do not have the resources or the know-how to conduct these investigations on their own. As a result, to protect employers, backgroundchecks.com does not report arrest history information on any background check reports—this Oklahoma state background check included.

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